Snip! The ceremonial ribbon flies free to officially open ReFoReMo 2016! Today starts three days of PreReFoReMo... a time to give you a little taste of education and open the research gates! You might not have enough fuel for the month-long journey without a healthy breakfast. Three days ought to give you enough!

First of all, if you have not registered for ReFoReMo yet, you only have a few days left! Bring your friends and register HERE to be eligible for prizes at the conclusion of ReFoReMo. Our reading list and goals can be found HERE and the low-down on the blog and logistics is HERE. But enough about reminders, let's get to the breakfast of champions!

Bold Beginnings By Kirsti Call and Carrie Charley Brown

You’ve always heard that first impressions are everything, right? Well, it’s no different for a story. It’s your job to grab the reader right from the start and make a bold statement in some way. If you don’t, you may be risking a pass on your story.

Just to prove how much a beginning can impact you, we’re going to start this post again.

Beginning #3:Crafting a perfect beginning can be a make or break your chance at getting noticed. Agents are busy! A bad first line can be an early signal that the next part is going to bomb as well.

Beginning #4:When was the last time you wished that a child would put a book down? Never! We want kids to be excited about turning the pages!

Beginning #5How do we hook our readers with the first sentence? The beginning of your story guarantees whether someone will keep reading or put it down.

Essentially, the five beginnings above have the same concept, just different approaches. Some are better than others at hooking the reader. Given the subjectivity involved, we're sure some prefer one, while others prefer another. (But we're guessing not many people would say that #2 is the best!)

In order to get you started on the right foot, we’ve selected ten beginnings that will put the wind in your sail! These examples compelled us to keep turning the pages. Here’s to a great beginning!

Kirsti’s picks:

Mustache Baby by Bridget Heos and Joy Ang“When Baby Billy was born, his family noticed something odd. He had a mustache.”A baby with a mustache? What a concept! I want to keep reading!

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers“One day, Duncan and his crayons were happily coloring together when a strange stack of postcards arrived for him in the mail...”Oooo... mystery! Who sent the strange stack of postcards? Why? I definitely want to turn the page.

Everyone Love Bacon by Kelly Dipuchchio and Eric Wight“Everybody loves Bacon. Including Bacon.”Interesting...Bacon is a character! And he loves himself. I want to keep reading.

Seaver the Weaver by Paul Czajack and The Brothers Hilts: “In the light of the moon Seaver emerged from his egg.”Lovely, lyrical and magical! I want to read to find out what happens to Seaver.

Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman and Zachariah Ohora:“The Bunny family came home to find a bundle outside their door.” Intrigue! What is the bundle outside the Bunny family’s door?

Carrie’s picks:

One Word From Sophia by Jim Averbeck and Yasmeen Ismail“Sophia’s birthday was coming up, and she had five things on her mind—One True Desire and four problems.”Immediately, I want to know what her “One True Desire” (a proper noun) and four problems are!

Bridget’s Beret by Tom Lichtenheld“Bridget was drawn to drawing. She liked to draw as much as other kids liked ice cream.”I love the play on words and kids will be like: ”As much as ice cream?! Woah! A Dance Like Starlight: One Ballerina’s Dreamby Kristy Dempsey and Floyd Cooper“Stars hardly shine in the New York City sky, with the factories spilling out smoke and street lights spreading bright halos round their pin-top faces. It makes it hard to find a star, even harder to make a wish, the one wish that if I could just breathe it out loud to the first star of night, I might be able to believe it true.”Doesn’t that make you want to know what her wish is?! This main character has captured my heart and the lyrical language is to die for!

The Monstoreby Tara Lazar and James Burks“At the back of Frankensweet’s Candy Shoppe, under the last box of sour gumballs, there’s a trap door. Knock five times fast, hand over a bag of squirmy worms, and you can crawl inside… THE MONSTORE.”I have to go there! I want to knock and bargain with the monster at the trapdoor. I must see the inside of this magical sounding place. This world has captured me. And…it starts with candy. Kids love candy!

Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson“Henry Brown wasn’t sure how old he was. Henry was a slave. And slaves weren’t allowed to know their birthdays.”Henry has my heart right away. When you think about young children, most of them are taught to show their age on their fingers from the time they are one. And here is a child who is not sure how old he is. I must read on to make sure he is taken care of and finds a way to a better life.

When assessing a beginning, ask yourself:Does the first sentence interest you in a way that you have never encountered?Does it leave you feeling like you need to read further to find out what happens next?

If you answered yes, then you might be onto something! So, are you ready? Go get those bold beginnings!

Carrie Charley Brown is the founder and co-coordinator of ReFoReMo, the Reading for Research Month blog & challenge.She eats, sleeps, and breathes picture books as a writer,professional critique mentor, and contributor on various blogs such as Writer's Rumpus and the Institute of Children's Literature. Carrie contributed as a 2014/2015 CYBILS fiction picture book panelist and donates a large part of her time to SCBWI North Texas as the Regional Advisor. She also produces kidlit videos and provides marketing services for authors and kidlit organizations. She has taught pre-k, kindergarten, first, and third grades. You can follow her writing journey right here on this site.

I have a hunch that "Seaver the Weaver" was borrowing from one of the most magical lines ever read to me as a child: "In the light of the moon a little egg lay on a leaf..." (Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar). So simple, and yet even today, when I read that first line to children, it seems to hold them spellbound.

Old Turtle by Douglas Wood
Once, long long ago...yet somehow, not so very long...when all the animals and rocks and winds and waters and trees and birds and fish and all the beings of the world could speak...and understand one another...there began...An Argument.

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Carrie Charley Brown

3/1/2016 10:45:48 pm

Great world building!

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Jennette Mutolo

2/27/2016 08:45:00 am

Definitely rethinking some of my opening lines!
And for anyone who does read alouds to classes..."Everyone loves Bacon" works well with all ages. Really ALL! After the read aloud, I ask, by show of hands, if anyone knows someone like Bacon. How does someone like Bacon make you feel? Bacon has a whole other meaning at my school. I'm hearing kids say, "You're being kind of bacony." and "Don't be like bacon." etc. Send a great message in a really fun way :-)

There are so many new books out with wonderful beginnings. Salina Yoon's BE A FRIEND is one of them, but sadly I don't have it with me. But I do have another lesser known title published earlier this month, MY DOG'S A CHICKEN by Susan McElroy Montanari has the distinct 'poor folks' dialect and simple humor. Read this first line and tell me you don't want to read more... Lula Mae wanted a puppy, but Mama said, "Dog's just another mouth to feed. These are hard times, Lula Mae. You've got to make do."

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Kirsti Call

3/4/2016 05:07:46 am

I knew I had to read MY DOG's A CHICKEN the moment I saw the title. It is a great one!

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Lori Dubbin

2/27/2016 08:54:21 am

I love the action in the first line of your post: "Snip! The ceremonial ribbon flies free to officially open ReFoReMo 2016!"
And I love the first line in the nonfiction picture book: STAR STUFF, Carl Sagan and the Mysteries of the Cosmos by Stephanie Roth Sisson:
In the Milky Way galaxy...In a neighborhood of stars...On the third planet from our sun...In a big city...In a small apartment...Lived a boy named Carl. (the reader soars over more than one page to read this, but it's one continuous "who, what, where" that leaves the reader wanting to know "why?")

Clever way to start this project! I love the first line:
"This hat is not mine. I just stole it." The line is from THIS IS NOT MY HAT by Jon Klassen. I will definitely turn the page to find out whose hat it is, why was it stolen, and what will happen when the rightful owner discovers its absence? Looking forward to the next post!

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Leah Heilman Schanke

2/29/2016 06:35:26 am

I was thinking of the same book! Every line makes you want to keep reading.

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Charlotte Dixon

2/27/2016 09:12:49 am

Great way to start ReFoReMo-Beginnings! One of my favs is the first line in TUPELO RIDES THE RAILS: Tupelo had been dumped by the side of the road, her sock toy, Mr. Bones, tossed out after her. She was confused-she had done nothing wrong. Now where would they go? My heart breaks each time I read this beginning. I want to save Tupelo.

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Carrie Charley Brown

3/1/2016 10:48:56 pm

Creating a character to root for from the beginning is so important! Thanks, Charlotte! :)

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Sue Poduska

2/27/2016 09:14:13 am

Wonderful start to a wonderful month.

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Anita Banks

2/27/2016 09:24:01 am

Woohoo. Here we go. I am excited to get started.

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Therese Nagi

2/27/2016 09:46:04 am

I liked the picture book "Daredevil" The Daring Life of Betty Skelton. The first line grabbed my attention. While most girls played with their dolls, Betty Skelton played with her metal plane.
I wanted to know more about the character.

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Cassie Bentley

2/27/2016 09:51:17 am

My favorite first line is "Where's Papa going with the ax? From Charlotte's Web. I'll add a section to my ReFoReMo notebook to list great hooks. Great start to March 2016

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Susan Deo

2/27/2016 09:52:36 am

I don't have any of my favorites right in front of me to quote, but what I'm remembering is the opening lines of the classic Madeline by Ludwig Bemelman. I think it still holds merit today!
"In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline."
Between the strong image of setting, the rhythm of the poetry, the hint of their days, and "The smallest one was Madeline." I'm hooked! I want to know more...

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Angela Turner

2/27/2016 09:54:08 am

The first line of Tea Party Rules by Amy Dyckman:

Cub was playing in the woods when he smelled something delicious.

It not only drew me in to see what he found, it made me hungry!

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Diane Fight

2/27/2016 09:54:51 am

One of my favorites openings is from Friday Night at Hodges Cafe by Tim Egan: Hodge's Cafe was busy as usual last Friday night. Everyone was savoring the delicious desserts that the cafe is famous for. Hodges is considered by many to be the finest pastry chef in the city. Too bad his duck is so crazy. (Can't you just hear a dramatic chord here)

ReFoReMo is finally here! Thanks for the great (hook) beginning. I will be rereading all my manuscripts soon to see if they have what it takes to hook a reader. Thanks!

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Cindy Jolley

2/27/2016 10:15:40 am

First I looked at my own manuscripts to consider my beginnings...
I have some revising to do.
From The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers
"Henry loved books. But not like you and I love books, no. Not quite..."

Fabulous start! And here's one of MY favorites:
"1+1=3?"
from 1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochelle/Brenda Sexton.
Who does NOT want to know how THAT is the right answer??

Excited for ReFoReMo!

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Susan Cabael

2/27/2016 10:45:03 am

"Bobby had a big problem at school.
Her name was Ms. Kirby."

Peter Brown's MY TEACHER IS A MONSTER

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Nancy Ramsey

2/27/2016 10:47:18 am

I really like the way Tammi Sauer begins YOUR ALIEN: You will be looking out your window when something wonderful comes your way.
You have to keep reading! Thanks Kirsti and Carrie for a great post- Looking forward to the month ahead!

So many favorites...it's hard to pick just one. I love the simplicity of 'My Grandfather's Coat' by Jim Aylesworth.
"My grandfather came to America when he was very young. He came alone and with little more than nothing at all."
Right away, I am pulled in because he is very young, taking this immense journey by himself. And what does he bring with him? Little more than nothing at all...oh my...only six words...but they convey what he has left behind - everything that he loved.

Thank you so much, Carrie and Kirstine...already, with this one post, you've helped me with the story I am working on. ;)

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Carrie Charley Brown

3/1/2016 10:53:35 pm

Yes, Vivian! A strong emotional pull sure makes you root for the character. I love that book, too. :)

It was so interesting to look back at the beginnings of some of the books I love. One tho stood out - for it's image and poetry.
"Imagine a Night" by Sarah L. Thomson, paintings by Rob Gonsalves (the artwork is stunning by the way)
"imagine a night...
...when snow white sheets
grow crisp and cold,
and someone whispers,
"Follow me." "
I want to follow and see where I am lead.

I need to read this one!! As a school librarian it is nice to have all these beginnings. It helps me focus in on books I want for the school library that I don't have yet. (Not to mention helping me with my writing.)

I love to hear about the creative process. This will show you the different drafts E.B. White’s wrote for CHARLOTTE'S WEB:

FIRST DRAFT:
A barn can have a horse in it and a barn can have a cow in it, and a barn can have a hen scratching in the chaff and swallow flyin’ in and out through the door—but if a barn hasn’t got a pig in it, it is hardly worth talk about.

SECOND DRAFT:
Charlotte was a big, gray spider who lived in the doorway of a barn. She was about the size of a gumdrop and she had eight legs and plenty of tricks up her sleeves.

FINAL DRAFT (AS IT APPEARS IN THE BOOK):
“Where’s Papa going with that ax?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

What a fun start to ReFoReMo! I guess I'm still in Valentines Day mode. I chose Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane dr Grout.
"There they were, fifteen blank valentine cards waiting to be filled with valentines poems."

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DeLeon

2/27/2016 12:29:27 pm

Starting Strong! Great examples! From now on, I'll make sure to have amazing bold beginnings. Thank you, Carrie and Kristi.

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Julie Burchstead

2/27/2016 12:35:59 pm

"See this man?
This one sitting here on the porch?
That's Mr. George Baker,
and he's a hundred years old,
no kidding."
Mr. George Baker by Amy Hest.

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Cathy

2/27/2016 07:34:31 pm

I how I love that book!

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Carrie Charley Brown

3/1/2016 10:58:35 pm

Amy Hest is sooooooo good! I love When Jessie Came Across the Sea....tear jerker! So good! And the Dog the Belonged to No One. Now I will have to read the one you listed! Thanks, Julie!

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Christine Rodenbour

2/27/2016 01:02:33 pm

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

"My hat is gone. I want it back."
How can two simple sentences like this create so many unanswered questions? Must...know...answers!

"Everyone was perfectly fine
with the way things were.
Everyone but Mr. Tiger."
MR. TIGER GOES WILD by Peter Brown

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Alice Fulgione

2/27/2016 01:22:49 pm

The first page of, IF YOU WANT TO SEE A WHALE, read, "If you want to see a whale you will need a window." I immediately wanted to read on to find out exactly what the boy saw through the window and if he finally did see a whale.

"One bright fall day, Sophie chose a squash at the farmer’s market.
Her parents planned to serve it for supper, but Sophie had other ideas." From Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller

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Kirsti Call

3/4/2016 05:12:29 am

This is one of my favorites!

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Sara Gentry

2/27/2016 02:55:04 pm

I was also going to say Click, Clack, Moo!
Fun reading the other comments.

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Lisa Venditelli Karmel

2/27/2016 03:28:59 pm

Everyone was perfectly fine with the way things were. Everyone but Mr. Tiger.

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Wendy Greenley

2/27/2016 03:39:40 pm

Welcome to the river of grass, running green from side to side, a river that is inches deep and miles wide.
From Jane Yolen's Welcome to the River of Grass:

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Maria Johnson

2/28/2016 10:39:37 am

Jane Yolen is so amazing and this is one I didn't know. Thanks.

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Julia Wasson

2/27/2016 04:23:35 pm

Iridescence of Birds, Maclachlan:
If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France where the skies were gray and the days were cold adn you wanted color and light and sun, and your mother, to brighten your days, painted plates to hang on the walls with pictures of meadows and trees, rivers and birds, and she let you mix the colors of paint - yellow and red, red and blue, blue and yellow - and let you arrange the fruit and flowers she brought from the market - pears and oranges in a bowl on a tablecloth, and flowers in a blue vase - and in the town people wove silks with colors all tangled, one color next to the other next to the other, and your mother put red rugs on the walls of the house and on the dirt parlor floor so all the world looked red, and you raised pigeons, watching their sharp eyes and red feet, and their colors that changed with the light as they moved that your mother called iridescence, would it be a surprise that you grew up to be a fine painter who painted red rooms and flowers that danced on green stems and fruit in a bowl on a blue and white tablecloth?

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Maria Johnson

2/28/2016 10:40:23 am

One of my most favorite books too.

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Valarie Giogas

2/27/2016 04:41:10 pm

Love all the great examples. Can't wait to go back to my beginnings and test them out.

What a fun way to start ReFoReMo! And what a great list of opening lines. I love the beginning of Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry: "Stick. Stone. Lonely. Alone."

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Laurie Bouck

2/27/2016 05:26:46 pm

A great start to ReFoReMo! Thank you!! :)

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Diane Asyre

2/27/2016 05:52:38 pm

This is one of my favorites for packing in a lot of tempting information: "One hundred years ago in Paris, when theaters and music halls drew traveling players from all over the world, the best place to stay was at the widow Gâteau's, a boardinghouse on English Street." From "Mirette on the High Wire" by Emily McCully.

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Mona

2/27/2016 05:57:10 pm

Lillian's Right to Vote has already been mentioned, but an image is created without seeing the illustration.
I'm going to go first lining amongst my WIPs! Thank.

"Think you know pink? Think again..."
Pink Is for Blobfish, by Jess Keating

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Elizabeth Duncan

2/27/2016 06:37:39 pm

From "Amos and Boris" by William Steig:

Amos, a mouse, lived by the ocean. He loved the ocean. He loved the smell of sea air. He loved to hear the surf sound-- the bursting breakers, the backwashes with rolling pebbles. He thought a lot about the ocean and he wondered about the faraway places on the other side of the water.

Lyrical language and strong sense of place.

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Linda

2/27/2016 06:57:46 pm

Glamourpuss by: Sarah Weeks

"Once upon a pillow sat a glamorous cat named Glamourpuss."

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Lisa Williams

2/27/2016 06:58:58 pm

I'm still waiting on the library to open so I can gather up the books on the list. (I just found this group/challenge this afternoon.) So, I gathered about 20 picture books from my own shelves and read the beginnings. The beginning I liked most that wasn't from a book already on our to-read list was from Drew Daywalt's book The Day the Crayons Quit: "One day in class, Duncan went to take out his crayons and found a stack of letters with his name on them."

I NEEDED to know what was in those letters. The thing I really enjoyed about this exercise was that I was able to see right away what a huge difference it made to have a great opening. I was able to see what made an opening great vs. mediocre vs. blah. Thanks for a great beginning to the challenge!

From Everything I Know about Monsters by Tom Lichtenheld...
I'm no monsterologist, but I do know enough about monsters to draw some pictures. And I can make up more stuff, so I can draw more pictures. Love it!

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lilli

2/27/2016 07:24:04 pm

Great way to begin: great beginnings!
Thanks also to all the comments adding to the list of greatness!

I love the opening of "The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever" by H. Joseph Hopkins. Honestly, the full extended title almost counts as the opening line!
“Katherine Olivia Sessions grew up in the woods of Northern California. She gathered leaves from oaks and elms. She collected needles from pines and redwoods. And she braided them together with flowers to make necklaces and bracelets.”

I see the setting and I love this girl's sense of nature and play in the outdoors.

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Maria Johnson

2/28/2016 10:44:38 am

The cover art was enough for me, even before the words,
to want to know everything contained within this book, but
the words are awesome too.

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Noelle McBride

2/27/2016 08:01:56 pm

Wherever You Go by Pat Zietlow Miller:

When it's time for a journey, to learn and to grow,
roads guide your footsteps wherever you go.
Roads give you chances to seek and explore.
Want an adventure? (turn page!)

Just open your door.

I'm ready for this new ReFoReMo adventure!

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Heidi Yates

2/27/2016 08:02:00 pm

"I was hatched to fly," said Penguin. "When do classes start?"
Flight School by Lita Judge

I just discovered a book by Florence Parry Heide with Edward Gorey illustrations: "The Shrinking of Treehorn". It starts, "Something very strange was happening to Treehorn." What's happening and why the name? Very intriguing.

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Sandy Perlic

2/27/2016 08:42:17 pm

From the first page of I Need My Monster:
"Tonight, when I looked under the bed for my monster, I found this note instead.
'Gone fishing. Back in a week. Gabe'
What was I going to do? I needed a monster under my bed. How was I supposed to get to sleep if my monster was gone?"
I think the fact that this attitude is very unexpected makes you want to turn the page and find out why he needs a monster, and also what he's going to do about his missing monster/getting to sleep.

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Lisa Morgan

2/27/2016 09:28:23 pm

YOUNG IGGY PECK IS AN ARCHITECT and has been since he was two, when he built a great tower-in only an hour- with nothing but diapers and glue. From Iggy Peck Architect, By Andrea Beaty. I have to say, it got me and anything about underwear or diapers will hook the 7 and under set as well!

Here's one off my reading pile:>) I have always wanted to see a moose--and even if that wasn't a wish--if this were about a different animal--the fun description and meter draw me right in anyway! From LOOKING FOR A MOOSE (Phyllis Root)

"Have you ever seen a moose--
a long-leggy moose--
a branchy-antler,
dinner-diving,
bulgy-nose
moose?"

Favorite first line in PB? Way too difficult to choose. Choosing from one of my older favorites (William Steig) who many would sadly say was too wordy for today's tastes, I'd say the opening from GORKY RISES:

"As soon as his parents kissed him goodbye and left, Gorky set up his laboratory by the kitchen sink and got to work."

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Kirsti Call

3/4/2016 05:20:25 am

Ooooh! This looks like a great one!

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Maureen Morrison

2/28/2016 07:45:40 am

What a great way to begin.Time to revisit my own opening lines.

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Katie Parnell

2/28/2016 08:05:56 am

I Want My Hat Back by John Klassen

My hat is gone. I want it back.

It is simple but intriguing. Where is his hat? Did someone steal it? Will he find it? Is it a special hat?

I am looking forward to a great month of research!

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PatHaap

2/28/2016 08:11:59 am

How fun to start off with this! So many books with so many great beginning! One of my favorites is Jon Klassen's "I Want My Hat Back," which begins with "My hat is gone. I want it back." Such simple lines that draw the reader in.

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Midge Smith

2/28/2016 08:45:08 am

"It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling." from Owl Moon, by Jane Yolen. This just draws me in--

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Celeste Gerard

2/28/2016 09:33:52 am

I love the opening line of Olivia - "This is Olivia. She is good at lots of things." The picture shows her holding a book titled 40 Very Loud Songs.....

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Sam Altmann

2/28/2016 09:41:32 am

I have to go with Where the Wild Things Are -

The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another, his mother called him "Wild Thing"...

The Man with the Violin by Kathy Stinson, Illustrated by Dusan Petricic.

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Jill Tadros

2/28/2016 10:32:46 am

"It all began with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and it ended with a hummus sandwich."

The Sandwich Swap by Queen Rania with Kelly DiPucchio
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa

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Maria Johnson

2/28/2016 10:49:08 am

Wonderful wonderful beginning. Great examples from everyone.
THERE's A Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer (1968)
"There used to be a nightmare in my closet."
Just using that past tense is enough to get me to turn the page.

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Amy Murrell

2/28/2016 11:17:11 am

So many of my favorites are already here but I also love, "For Beatrice Bottomwell, Friday began like any other day. " It's from The Girl Who Never Made Mistakes by Pett and Rubinstein. Published by Source books in 2011.

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Val McCammon

2/28/2016 12:32:28 pm

A boy was collecting pinecones in his wagon when he met a robot.
From Boy + Bot, by Ame Dyckman (2012).

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Maria Marshall

2/28/2016 12:51:37 pm

Two of my favorite openings - not yet mentioned:
"The trouble with having a tiny elephant for a pet is that you never quite fit in." ~ STRICTLY NO ELEPHANTS, Lisa Mantchev
An elephant for a pet? Such a fun idea, I had to know more.

"In the center of Snoozeville, dwells the wee one, the sleepiest sloth, Snuggleford Cuddlebun." ~ SNOOZEFEST, Samantha Berger
I love sloths and the rhyme and fun words just beg you to go on.

Thanks for a great way to start ReFoReMo - at the beginning! :-)

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Melanie Ellsworth

2/28/2016 02:32:10 pm

From FLOP TO THE TOP by Eleanor Davis & Drew Weing

"My name is Wanda. I'm a superstar. Everybody says so."

I love the main character's confidence, and this beginning sets us up to wonder if something might perhaps be coming to knock her off her pedestal!

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Margaret Greanias

2/28/2016 04:41:18 pm

From WAITING by Kevin Henkes:

"There were five of them. And they were waiting..."

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Patricia Nozell

2/28/2016 07:11:39 pm

Such a wonderful post & amazing comments! Like several folks have mentioned, I checked a recent WIP that was sitting next to the computer. And then thought about the book that has been haunting me, "Two White Rabbits," Jairo Buitrago/Rafael Yockteng (2015):

"When we travel, I count what I see. Five cows, four hens and one chucho, as my dad calls them."

I immediately wanted to know where the narrator & Dad were traveling, why the switch in language, and why they were traveling.

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Darlene Frybarger

2/28/2016 08:03:09 pm

I'm separated from my books until Tuesday, but all these beginnings are so much fun to read!

I love the book Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran/Barbara Cooney.
The first two lines are:
Marion called it Roxaboxen. (She always knew the name of everything.)

It grabs me because I want to know what Roxaboxen is and how Marion knows the name of everything. I also want to know who the narrator is and why they didn't know the name. I feel like I am included in the aside that Marion knows the name of everything. I want to read on.

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Emily

2/28/2016 10:43:52 pm

Thank you Carrie and Kirsti! What a great beginning about beginnings! How about from NOT A BOX by Antoinette Portis....
"Why are you sitting in a box?"

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Kristen Browning

2/28/2016 11:44:55 pm

Great post! I liked this opening line that I read tonight: "Henry loved books. But not like you and I love books, no. Not quite..." --Oliver Jeffers THE INCREDIBLE BOOK EATING BOY

Totally agree with Andrea. Added to my favorite first lines is tge one from Lenny & Lucy by Phillip Stead. "Winding along a bumpy road, through the dark unfriendly woods, Peter said, "I think this is a terrible idea."

So many to choose from, but here is one of my recent favorites: LENNY & LUCY by Philip & Erin Stead -- "Winding along a bumpy road, through the dark unfriendly woods, Peter said, 'I think this is a terrible idea.'" It introduces the setting, mood and MC and I want to know more about Peter immediately!

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Joan Swanson

2/29/2016 07:28:50 am

"If a hungry little traveler shows up at your house, you might want to give him a cookie" is the beginning of one of my all time favorite books!

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Mary Warth

2/29/2016 08:16:12 am

What great openings! I have to say, mine is the opening for The Monstore- it grabbed me right away!

Great post. You always hear to have a great beginning for your story. This post made me really think about it. I decided to go visit my manuscripts and concentrate on the beginnings. I have already made a change to one of my PBs. And, it did make it better. Now - onto my other manuscripts!

I have many but his is one of my favorites from ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY :
'I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there's gum in my hair and when I got out of bed this morning, I tripped on the skateboard and by mistake I dropped my sweater in the sink while the water was running and I could tell it was going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.'

Instantly, I was hooked when I read this many years ago, because I had had mornings like that so i was instantly engrossed in the story. Of course, the title had me hooked to open the book in the first case.

This is such a great beginning to ReFoReMo! I know I'm going to learn a lot.

There are many books I like, two are older ones that I'll mention - the first is the sweetest story.

Emma Bean by Jean Van Leeuwen: Once there was a rabbit and she had a girl. The girl's name was Molly. The rabbit was Emma Bean.

PuddleDuck by Nancy Hundal: That one spring, Bianca knew that Puddleduck would come back. He had been gone a long time - since the summer before. But when she saw from her window the gray sheets of rain slicing through the clouds, she knew her Puddleduck was coming too.

A newer book is I Am Otter by Sam Garton (which I see is listed on day 8): Hi! I am Otter. No one really knows where I came from. Otter Keeper says that he found me in a box on his doorstep one day.

I am late to this party, but love all of the awesome beginnings! Here is a recent one that I adore, because it's so lyrical to me (I'm gong to add the first two sentences, since the book has a first page spread, instead of first page)--

"CJ pushed through the church doors, skipped down the steps. The outside air smelled like freedom, but it also smelled like rain, which freckled CJ's shirt and dripped down his nose."--LAST STOP ON MARKET STREET by Matt de la Pena

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Lisa Rogers

3/2/2016 03:51:31 pm

Lots of lyrical language in this book--I love that beginning! Thanks for posting it.

Such great choices. I LOVED the opening to One Word from Sofia, had to keep reading. I really love the opening two lines (I know, I'm already cheating on day 1...or pre-day 1, even worse) from Mr. Tiger Goes Wild -

Everyone was perfectly fine with the way things were. Everyone but Mr. Tiger.

I immediately want to know how things are exactly, and what is Mr. Tiger not okay with?

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Pamela Courtney

2/29/2016 11:29:11 pm

Boy oh boy, this post is getting us off to a great start. Love it! I guess I have to say that I love the opening lines to, The Giving Tree: "Once there was a tree and she loved a little boy.

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Sheila Lynch-Afryl

3/1/2016 05:08:00 am

Enemy Pie: "It should have been a perfect summer."

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Mary Boehmer

3/1/2016 07:28:09 am

Thank you for sharing with us! What a great way to start, I'm so excited. One of my favorite, favorites is by Oliver Jeffers. "Henry loved books. But not like you and I love books, no. Not quite.. I was hooked! Reading this to my library class you could tell how it had hooked the kids, they started to move closer, silently they waited as the story unfolded.

What an excellent start! The post reminds me to start strong! sometimes it's easy to get lost in setting up the story in your head. All the comments had great suggestions too!

My pick is Shaun Tan's "The Red Tree"

sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to

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Jilanne Hoffmann

3/2/2016 02:13:04 pm

I am sooo excited for ReFoReMo that I started early. ha! Love it! Pop the cork, here we go!

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Marlene Rohr

3/2/2016 06:35:49 pm

All of these posts are so helpful and lovely to read. The beginning line I like is from Swan: The city is big. Anna is small. The snow is everywhere and all around.

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Lisa Williams

3/2/2016 09:26:33 pm

I was finally able to pick up a huge stack of books from the library today and got a chance to read Bridget's Beret. I was so excited!!! Not because of the beginning, but because it has Bridget's take on a Van Gogh. I teach a Van Gogh/art unit each year to lower grades and am always on the lookout for new picture books I can use with that unit. Other paintings were also included AND it had back matter about art! SCORE!!

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Kirsti Call

3/4/2016 05:14:08 am

This is definitely one of my favorite PBs!

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Rebecca Trembula

3/3/2016 05:43:35 am

Out of the 22 picture books in my active-reading stack, my favorite first lines are: "Laszlo was afraid of the dark" (The Dark, text by Lemony Snicket) because it instantly lets you know he's going to end up in the dark somehow and "Where...where...is your honey pot, bear?" (Where is your Honey Pot, Bear? by Garry Fleming) because the meandering text sets up the gentle rhythm of the rest of the book.

I loved your blog and I do know how first lines hook readers. Ellen Levine caught me with the words Henry did not know his birthday and then at the end March29th1849 henry freedom birthday brought it altogether. The illustrations are wonerfuland one can feel his pain losing family. I have also enjoyed other opeing lines and i love this REFOREMO and tell every friend I know about it including our local librarian.Thank you for starting this site. Hope you got my donation.

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Kirsti Call

3/4/2016 05:13:23 am

Thank you Jane! You are much appreciated. So glad you're loving ReFoReMo!!!

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Lauren Barbieri

3/4/2016 10:08:25 am

"When Hana Hashimoto announced that she had signed up for the talent show and that she would be playing the violin, her brothers nearly fell out of a tree." - Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (Chieri Uegaki & Qin Leng)

I'm currently living in Korea, and most of my beloved picture books that I own are in storage in the U.S. I'm sharing a beginning from Astrid Lindgren, as a few of her books are here with us :-). I find her books timeless in the same way the Anne of Green Gables books are. I was introduced to Astrid Lindgren by my Austrian host mother. Originally written in Swedish, I first read the books in German, and now share the English translations with my sons :-). Her books aren't picture books, more early novels/chapter books. Here is her opening from Karlson on the Roof: "In a perfectly ordinary street in a perfectly ordinary house in Stockholm lives a perfectly ordinary family called Stevenson. It consists of a perfectly ordinary father and a perfectly ordinary mother and three perfectly ordinary children, Seb, Sally, and Smidge. 'I'm not an ordinary Smidge at all,' says Smidge. But he's lying."
And, her opening to Emil's Clever Pig goes: "There was never a boy in the whole of Lonneberga and in the whole of Smaland and in the whole of Sweden and--who knows--perhaps in the whole world who got into more mischief than Emill." I'll mention one other title I have with us--a book introduced to our family by my younger son's kindergarten teacher. This was one of her beloved childhood books: Jenny and the Cat Club by Ester Averhill. Here is the opening: "In Captain Tinker's garden, once upon a time, there was a Cat Club. All the cats and kittens in the neighborhood were members. All but Jenny Linsky." Thank you for sharing some of your favorite beginnings. There is so much rich content here in the land of ReFoReMo!

What a wonderful assortment of "hooks." I love this highlight as something I can look forward to researching. =)

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Linda Thomas

3/6/2016 06:16:56 pm

An oldie but goodie, by Mercer Mayer:
"There used to be an alligator under my bed."
Thank you for a great beginning for ReFoReMo!

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Amanda Sincavage

3/7/2016 01:56:58 am

Most of these books are new to me and still waiting on the majority from the library, but I've become quite fond of Julie Fogliano's "First you have brown, all around you have brown" - my 14-month old is trying to say brown!

I thought I had commented on this...apparently not, but I wanted to say how wonderful this experience has been so far. I've learned so much and I'm so excited to apply all these new elements in my writing and illustrating. Thanks for all your efforts in creating this adventure for so many of us!!

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Suzy Leopold

3/20/2016 09:37:25 pm

It is so important for the first line to hook the reader right away. Something has to happen. The character on the first page cannot be the same character that the reader leaves on the last page.

"Wemberly worried about everything."

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Lenne' Musarra

3/28/2016 01:18:18 pm

The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack and Kurt Wiese
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful young duck named Ping. Ping lived with his mother and his father and two sisters and three brothers and eleven aunts and seven uncles and forty-two cousins.
Their home was a boat with two wise eyes on the Yangtze River.
Each morning as the sun rose from the east, Ping and his mother and his father and two sisters and three brothers and eleven aunts
and seven uncles and forty-two cousins all marched one by one,
down a little bridge to the shore of the Yangtze River."
I want to learn more about this young duck who lives amongst all these relatives and yet has the freedom each day to walk over the bridge and explore the wide world of the Yangtzy River.

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Illustration by Lori Nawyn

ReFoReMo

March 1-31The ReFoReMo Challenge, or Reading for Research Month Challenge, was developed to help picture book writers reform writing by reading and researching picture books. Challenge registration opens February 15. To find out more or to subscribe to the Reading for Research Blog for weekly posts year round, visit our new exclusive site at www.reforemo.com.